Study 2 Corinthians 3

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1. What does Paul ask them now?

"Are we recommending ourselves again? Do we need a letter of recommendation to you? Do we need a letter of recommendation from you?"

2. What was Paul's letter of recommendation-a letter inscribed in Paul's heart, being known and read by everyone?

The believers in Corinth.

3. What was being shown clearly?

That the saints in Corinth are Christ's letter, having been ministered to by Paul.

4. With what kind of "ink" was Christ's letter written?

The Spirit of the God.

5. On what surface was Christ's letter written?

Not on stone tablets but on tablets of the heart.
Such is the nature of the new covenant. It cannot be written on stone, on parchment, on paper. The Spirit of God is the "ink." The human heart is the "paper." The finished "epistle" is the mature saint in whom is the image of Christ, the fruit of the Spirit.

6. What was Paul's confidence through Christ before God?

That the Christians in Corinth indeed were Christ's letter.

7. How did Paul feel about his own judgment and his own ability to do anything concerning the work of the Kingdom of God?

Paul was not able to judge or do anything of himself. His ability came from God.

8. What ability did God give to Paul?

The ability to minister the new covenant.

9. What is true of the new covenant?

The new covenant cannot be contained in letters and words. The new covenant is Christ and is ministered by the Holy Spirit.
The new covenant is the forming of Christ within the saint, which is the work of the Holy Spirit.
The new covenant, or new testament, can be written only on the human heart and mind.
It is customary to refer to the section of the Bible from Matthew to Revelation as the "New Testament." But these writings are not the new testament, the new covenant. Both the Old Testament and the New Testament are the inspired Word of God, and we are to give heed to everything that is written therein. But the New Testament writings are not the new testament, the new covenant.
What, then, is the New Testament, the holy writings of the Apostles?
As we have stated, the New Testament is the inspired Word of God, written by men who themselves were having the new testament created within them.
The four Gospels are four separate accounts of the Person and ministry of Christ. The Book of Acts is a history of the early missionary activity. The Epistles are letters of explanation and direction to the young churches. The Book of Revelation is a prophetic vision.
None of the above is the new covenant, the new testament put into effect by the blood of Christ.
The new covenant is the creating of Christ in the Saint.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: and they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more (Hebrews 8:10-12).

10. What does the "letter" of the Scriptures do?

The letter kills.
Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the commandment might become exceeding sinful (Romans 7:13).

11. What does the Holy Spirit do?

The Holy Spirit gives us eternal resurrection life.

12. How does Paul refer to the old Mosaic covenant?

As the "ministration [ministry] of death."

13. Where were the letters of the ministry of death written?

They were engraved on stone tablets.

14. What was true of the ministry of death, the Ten Commandments?

It was brought forth in glory.
Mount Sinai shook with the Presence of God. The trumpet of the Lord sounded through the wilderness. There were thunder and lightning. The fire and the smoke caused the mountain to resemble a furnace. The Israelites witnessed the majesty of God Almighty.

15. What happened to Moses as a result of his nearness to the Glory of the God of Israel?

Moses' face was transfigured permanently. He wore a veil for the remainder of his days because the people could not bear to look at him. He removed the veil only when he went into the Most Holy Place to speak with God.

16. What was true of the glory of the old covenant?

It was to pass away with the coming of the new covenant.

17. If such glory accompanied the giving of the Ten Commandments, a ministry of death that was destined to pass away, what undoubtedly is true of the new covenant-the ministry of the Spirit of God written on the human heart?

It is brought forth with more glory than appeared on Mount Sinai.

18. If the ministry of condemnation was brought forth in such power and majesty, what is true of the ministry of righteousness?

It abounds much more in glory.

19. When the glory of the ministry of death is compared with the glory of the ministry of life, what is seen to be true?

The glory of the ministry of life surpasses to such a extent the glory of the ministry of death that the demonstration of the Glory of God on Mount Sinai is not found to be glorious at all.

20. How can we know that the ministry of death had no glory at all when compared with the ministry of life?

The ministry of death was temporary, having been superseded by a better covenant. The ministry of life is eternal.

21. What did Paul's hope in the exceptional glory of the new covenant cause him to do?

To boldly proclaim the Word of Christ.
Paul's boldness and plainness of speech is in contrast to the veil over the face of Moses, the veil over the old covenant.

22. Why did Moses put a veil over his face?

So that the sons of Israel could not gaze on that which was passing away.
The thought here seems to emphasize the fact that the old covenant was incomplete and temporary. It was a "veiled" covenant, the purpose of which was to bring us to a fuller revelation of Christ. Christ is the permanent fullness of the Divine Glory which, prior to the establishing of the new covenant, had been veiled and not permanently established.

23. What happened to the sons of Israel?

Their minds were blinded.

24. What is true even today, when the Law is read in the synagogue?

The Glory of God remains hidden behind the veil.

25. When does the old covenant pass away? When is the veil lifted?

When the worshiper receives Christ and believes in Him.

26. Who is the Spirit of the new covenant?

The Lord Jesus Christ.

27. What does the Spirit of the Lord bring to us?

The liberty of the new covenant, the liberty to serve God as we should, the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Because of the error of our day we must add that the liberty of the children of God is not freedom from the eternal moral law of God but freedom from the Levitical statutes. We are free from Moses that we may be married-married to Christ. Marriage to Christ is a far stricter law and government than ever could be true of the Law of Moses.
We have been set free also from the obligation to sin. But we must choose to serve righteousness. If we do not choose to serve righteousness we return to servitude to sin. There is no middle ground. If we return to servitude to sin, God will judge the sin, and the result is spiritual death.

28. What is true of the believer in Christ?

His face is not veiled from the Glory of the Lord.

29. In what "mirror" do we behold the Glory of Christ?

In the mirror of the Holy Spirit. As we behold the Presence and working of the Holy Spirit in ourselves and in other people we are witnessing the Glory of Christ.

30. What happens to us when we see the Glory of Christ?

Every time we see the Glory of Christ in the Holy Spirit we are transformed into the image of what we are beholding.

31. What power transforms us into the image of what we are beholding?

The power of the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ.

32. What process of transformation occurs in us?

We are transformed by the Spirit into the Glory of the Lord-"from glory to glory."
Verse eighteen is an excellent summary of what the new covenant is.
The new covenant is the dwelling of Christ in us according to our faith. It is, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Our hope is that our constant, persevering faith in Christ will bring us into the fullness of the Glory of God. We do not want to come short of that glory.
Christ dwells in us through the Holy Spirit. This is not all. We ourselves are being transformed. The vessel that contains the Lord is being remade through contact with Him, making it a sanctified vessel.
As Christ dwells in us we are transformed into His image, His Substance, His Nature. As we are transformed we are able to receive a greater portion of Christ. The greater portion transforms us to a greater extent. The process of conversion to His Person continues, from glory to increasing glory-perhaps for eternity.
We are being created the Glory of the Lord. We forge ahead each day through the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit, the transforming Agent of the new covenant, proceeding from one state of glory to the next. The goal is complete, perfect union with the Father through Christ, and complete, perfect conformity to the image of God.